Politics from a 15 year old’s perspective
Brad, after watching Sarah Palin’s speech last night: “I bet she doesn’t listen to Bob Marley.”
Archive for My Musings
Politics of a Different Color
We’ve been watching the Democratic National Convention; Brad especially has been interested in the political process of late. Last night as Barack Obama came on stage, it really hit home that this is indeed history in the making.
I wanted Brad to understand just how recent the Civil Rights movement was, just how much things have changed in what is really a very short time period. Martin Luther King’s fight for equality isn’t something that only happened in history books - this great man did his work during my lifetime.
The prejudice that blacks face(d) is something that I’ve seen first hand and I wanted Brad to hear this, so we stayed up late talking about MY history as it relates to current history. The rural community in which I grew up was very white. I remember seeing the occasional “mixed couple” (visitors, of course) and hearing the whispers about how indecent it was for a black man to marry a white woman, and wondering why. I remember Roscoe Phillips, the only black student in my high school and an excellent running back, being told that he only made so many touchdowns because there were so many white players chasing him. And here we are today watching a black man run for the president of the country.
Whether you plan to vote for Barack Obama or John McCain, and regardless of which man becomes our next president, this election is a momentous occasion. It IS history in the making.
Life in the Now
If you’re not living every moment to its fullest - or even if you think you are - head on over to read Tim’s beautiful post. It will inspire you to squeeze the beauty out of every single moment.
Free Time!
I’m looking ahead to two full days without my children, and find myself wondering what to do with myself. I have a certain desire to be productive, but I’m kind of reveling in wandering in the solitude and quiet. Maybe being productive isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
How Homeschoolers Differ
In my earlier post about teens and drinking, Tim said:
I wouldn’t draw too heavy a connection to the fact that the kids are in the public school system. My wife and I came from similar middle-class backgrounds and attended similar public high schools in Texas. She drank in high school, I didn’t.
While I agree that kids differ and lines are not always drawn along the homeschool/public school boundary, there is a difference in how kids are perceived in the different camps.
Becky said:
I think many parents, especially institutional school parents … have a certain set of expectations for teens, not limited to alcohol (and/or drugs). One of the biggest ones seems to be about the withdrawal of teens from family life in particular and adults in general, which I’ve watched sadly in my own nieces — it seems “natural” to expect them to become surly, snarly, and silent around adults, not to want to spend leisure time with their families. And once a family has this expectation, whether it’s the drinking or the withdrawal, it does seem to become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
This is what I was alluding to in that drinking post. Not by any means that parents of traditionally schooled kids are consciously causing their kids to drink. I think it’s more of a cultural mind set. When these parents see that everyone else at school has a cell phone, it’s harder to deny that privilege to their own kid. Likewise, when they see that everyone else at school is drinking, there comes the expectation that their kid too will fall into that trap, like it or not.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been told to “just wait” until my kids become teens because all sorts of attitude will emerge. Maybe this is the first step in conformation to the crowd, the self-fulfilling prophecy - parents dole out warnings about dire behavior, and the next parent hears it so often that s/he begins to believe and accept it as normal, which in turn makes the first parent feel like the dire behavior is normal.
I think this is where homeschooled parents in general differ from those of traditionally schooled kids. Parents who homeschool have a tendency not to just accept that our kids fit the one mold. We’ve already bucked the system, dealt with unsupportive family members, discovered new ways to solve old problems. We’ve tried to provide an alternative type of education; why not provide an alternative kind of lifestyle, where kids are free to be themselves beyond the expectations of the crowd?
This is not to say that parents whose kids are in a more traditional setting can’t provide an alternative to the norm. I just think it’s much, much harder to do so when the people you and your kids are surrounded by on a day to day basis believe that there’s only one “normal” behavior.
Teens and Drinking
I spent one day this weekend with friends whose kids are in the public school system. Over glasses of wine, the discussion turned to our kids. I listened as these parents expressed their expectations of trouble in the future of their teens, specifically teenage drinking. I was surprised that these parents took for granted that this would be an issue. But then, with peer pressure in the schools, maybe it is? I certainly know what my own high school years looked like in public school.
I wonder if by assuming that teens will start drinking as teens, parents are feeding the possibilities? I don’t expect my kids not to drink. But I also don’t automatically assign the problem to them just because they are teens, as if the only possible answer to the equation is teens = drinking. Each child differs in personality and every choice will be different. For instance, my eldest - a teenager - has expressed an interest in being like his uncle who has never had a drink in his life. I think that’s a pretty unlikely scenario, but I haven’t discouraged him. We are very clear with both of the boys that while drinking alcohol is not taboo, driving after drinking is - regardless of age. They also know what the legal drinking age is (21 in CA).
As parents, we’ll do our best, as most parents do, to be aware of any trouble with the kids and even keep our eyes open for possible consumption of alcohol. But I won’t assume that it will become a problem just because they’ve reached a certain milestone. Is it naive of me to think that teenage drinking is not automatically a given? Thoughts?
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Edited to add this link to Miranda’s post on this topic.
I’ll bet…
…that the people I know in Kona are not wondering where the mountain lion is that left a deer carcass less than a hundred feet from their house.
How to be the Coolest Mom in the World
For at least a day.
1. Save a stack of the old records that you used to listen to as a teen.
2. Have a child that likes classic rock and decides to decorate his room with old album covers.
3. Unearth the old albums and pass Journey, Styx, the Eagles, and CCR on to said music lover who now believes that his mom must actually have had a life. Once.
4. Bask in the adoration, for indeed, it will not last.
Voodoo Online
I discover the darndest things when I’m researching my books. I’m editing my medieval book, and right now focusing on medieval witchcraft and sorcery (no hands-on projects here, I promise!). I just discovered this site, where you can order spells to suit your every need. Who knew?
